Hi Christina,
I like the different layers I find when reading this. The distances between
the people involved in creating the painting and the distances between the
painting and those maybe glancing at it. That demand for stillness (and how
the person, when they're looking at a painting, has to hold onto stillness
too) - and how many other paradoxes it contains? Plenty. The practical
details are convincing... and the notion of her looking down...
In short, I like it!
Bob
>From: Christina Fletcher <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Pennine Poetry Works <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: New sub: Life Model
>Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:04:25 EST
>
>
>
>
> Life Model
>
> Here, in Tate Modern, most look quickly and move on
> with no idea of how the slightest movement
> changes everything, how light shifts, or the scent
> of paraffin and nicotine on her skin.
>
> Step back thirty years - she's swallowing
> amphetamines to keep so still that she'll slip
> from her body and look down to watch him
> watching her, mixing his oils through marriage,
>
> separation, divorce - the same canvas,
> the same godawful silence. And for what?
> A Times obituary? Now, she's in that space again:
> his chair, those walls, the line of his plumb.
>
> Everything's familiar: she's a poor schmuck
> of a student, easy to impress, paid peanuts.
> Obsessed with what he sees, he's on the up:
> unknown, known, famous. A long time dead.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> christina fletcher
>
_________________________________________________________________
It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today!
http://messenger.msn.co.uk
|